ultimatepopculturefandomcom-20200216-history
Disney's Aladdin (Virgin Games video game)
| publisher = Sega | producer = | director = David Perry | designer = | programmer = David Perry | composer = | released = November 11, 1993 | platforms = Sega Genesis }} Disney's Aladdin is a platform game based on the 1992 film of the same name developed by Virgin Games and Disney Software. The game was released by Sega for the Sega Genesis on November 11, 1993 as one of several games based on the film, including another game that was released in the same month by Capcom for the Super NES. The game is one of the best-selling Genesis games with four million copies sold. It also received a number of adapted ports for other platforms, such as the NES, Game Boy, Amiga, and DOS computers. Gameplay The player controls Aladdin, who must make his way through several levels based on locations from the movie: from the streets and rooftops of Agrabah, the Cave of Wonders and the Sultan's dungeon to the final confrontation in Grand Vizier Jafar's palace. The Sultan's guards and also animals of the desert want to hinder Aladdin in his way. He can attack either close range with a scimitar, which can deflect certain projectiles, or long range with a limited supply of apples. Next to apples, Aladdin can also collect gems which can be traded for lives and continues from a traveling peddler. Finding Genie or Abu icons enables bonus rounds. The Genie bonus round is a game of luck played for apples, gems or extra lives, and continues until the player runs out of Genie tokens or lands on Jafar. In Abu's bonus round, the player controls the little monkey who has to catch bonus items that fall from the sky, but without touching any of the unwanted objects like rocks and pots. Development Development for the game began in January 1993, with a team of ten animators working on the animation frames. The work was then shipped to Virgin's California facility to be digitized. The game used traditional animation, which was produced by Disney animators under the supervision of Virgin's animation staff, including animation producer Andy Luckey, technical director Paul Schmiedeke and animation director Mike Dietz, using an in-house "Digicel" process to compress the data onto the cartridge. Virgin was given the deadline of October 1993 to complete production as to coincide with the home video release of the film; this deadline left Virgin with about three-quarters the normal amount of time to build a game. The game features some musical arrangements from the film, along with original pieces composed by Donald Griffin and Tommy Tallarico. Ports The Amiga and DOS were based on the Mega Drive/Genesis version, featuring enhanced music and sound effects. The NES received a port as well, which was later adapted into a Game Boy version, which was compatible with the Super Game Boy. A Game Boy Color port was developed by Crawfish Interactive and published by Ubi Soft on November 30, 2000. A Sega CD version of Aladdin was planned but never started official development. Sequel In a "Devs Play" session with Double Fine in 2014, Louis Castle, co-founder of Westwood Studios who later worked on The Lion King, revealed that the studio had pitched a second Aladdin game that would have featured pre-rendered 3D sprites, around the same time as the Amiga game Stardust and a year prior to their use in Donkey Kong Country, but the project was scrapped by Disney. Reception Critical reception | CVG = 80%Amanda Tipping, Aladdin, Computer and Video Games, issue 145 (December 1993), page 59 | Dragon = | Edge = 8 / 10 | EGM = 34 / 40''Electronic Gaming Monthly'', 1999 Video Game Buyer's Guide, page 132 | Fam = 35 / 40 | GamePro = 18.5 / 20''GamePro'', issue 52 (November 1993), pages 46-47 | GMaster = 95%''GamesMaster'', issue 11, pages 64-65 | IGN = 8 / 10 | rev1 = Mean Machines Sega | rev1Score = 82% | rev2 = Mega | rev2Score = 94%''Mega'', issue 14, pages 34-35 }} On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the Genesis version of Aladdin a 35 out of 40.NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: アラジン. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.257. Pg.39. 12–19 November 1993. The game was awarded Best Genesis Game of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly. They also awarded it Best Animation. The game was reviewed in 1994 in Dragon #211 by Jay & Dee in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Both reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. Mega placed the game at #12 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time.Mega magazine issue 26, page 74, Maverick Magazines, November 1994 Levi Buchanan of IGN gave the game an 8/10, calling the game "a platformer that proved the Genesis, while aging, was still quite capable of great gameplay and delightful artwork." The game sold 4 million copies worldwide at the time of its release, making it the third best-selling Sega Genesis game of all-time, after Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. References External links * * Category:1993 video games Category:Aladdin (franchise) video games Category:Amiga 1200 games Category:Cancelled Sega CD games Category:DOS games ported to Windows Category:Game Boy games Category:Game Boy Color games Category:Nintendo Entertainment System games Category:Virgin Interactive games Category:Platform games Category:Sega Genesis games Category:Single-player video games Category:Video games designed by David Perry Category:Video games developed in the United States Category:Video games scored by Allister Brimble Category:Video games scored by Mark Cooksey Category:Video games scored by Tommy Tallarico